Being a Widen DAMster: An interview with Dani Giles, Senior Support Services Officer, Career Education at Sheridan College

When it comes to connecting marketing content, many people don’t realize that a digital asset management (DAM) system can be a key resource for their organization. DAM can help users make better decisions about their marketing strategy and also promote better market positioning. That’s why we hit the road to talk with Widen customers about the different ways they’re using the Media Collective to help leverage their digital content and improve marketing efficiencies.

This is what Dani Giles from Sheridan College in Toronto, Canada, had to say. Sheridan College is an almost 50 year-old undergraduate college with a reputation for creativity and innovation. As a member of an internal user group that the marketing team serves, Dani is considered a “client user” of the Media Collective.

1. What you do in your role?I’ve been at Sheridan College for five years. Right now I’m working in the marketing aspect of Career Education and Magnet (big red M) – I help students get registered with those programs. Rather than an online service to get a job, it works just the opposite where the student and the counselor work together to find a job. We’re working with the local chamber of commerce to make things happen.

2. When did you know you needed a DAM system? Did something happen to indicate it was time?In Career Education, there are a lot of people who create content for advertising, so they need easy access to logos and images. It’s nice to have the DAM system because now we know the most up to date images that are in there.

Before the DAM system, I had to go to Stewart and email him to ask for a picture. During the rebrand, I didn’t have the best resolution of images, so I’d end up downloading photos from the website at a low resolution, then work with a designer to make the resolution look better. We wanted everything to look nice and new and consistent.

3. If someone asked you what the Media Collective does, what would you tell them?I would say it’s a resource to use if you’re looking for images, or any Sheridan College images for advertising and promotions. That is specifically what I use it for. Advertising and promotions.

I met with marketing and went over specific guidelines they were looking for. I always make sure I have waivers if I take photos of students. And I make sure I have the right colors, high resolution images, and the correct logos for each department. I want to make sure we’re branding things properly.

The consent forms are number one though. I’m trying to disperse that information to everyone so they know they need to use them. I avoid Facebook when posting photos for that reason.

4. What unique things are you or your teams able to do with the Media Collective that you didn’t initially realize you could do?I liked that I could see recent photos of Sheridan College that have been uploaded right when the application first opens. And it’s so easy to type in a word and the system will sort and search images based on keyword.

5. How did you roll out the system to your user base? Do you have any communications or training materials you can share with us?I learned about the use of the system when I emailed Stewart about a student reading a book. Stewart let me know that we had the system now and suggested I use it to get my images.

6. What is the greatest value you've gained from making use of a DAM system - on a marketing level? By far, it’s saving time. I can just go in (the system) and download a picture. With the work I’m doing, deadlines are a big factor. Last week, there was a LinkedIn group on campus and they needed and ad done within an hour. That happens quite a bit. I only work part-time, so my time is limited anyhow, and the DAM system helps so much.

7. How do you prefer to consume content?Video. I don’t want to sound lazy, but it’s just so much easier. From what I’ve seen in a communications survey we’re doing with about 500 students, video and email were the top two ways they want to get information. Video is so much more accessible. I’m taking online courses and I can access videos on my phone to watch anytime. It takes two minutes. With reading, I might have to go to several pages.

I find reading tough because I read emails all day. Live presentations are nice too – but not PowerPoints. Something where people talking and interacting with the audience.

8. Where do you see your usage of the Media Collective going in the future?More use of collections to send other people photos they can use.

9. What three, individual adjectives would you use to describe the Media Collective?Organized, visual, creative.

10. What is the most important thing new DAM users should know about making use of a digital asset management system? In working with other staff members, it’s important that they know how to search effectively within it, and how to share images. How to download things effectively. I work with a lot of people from different backgrounds and they need to learn how to do those things.

Widen is awesome and I’m happy with it (the Media Collective)!

Watch the video interview with Stewart Dick, Senior Designer at Sheridan College, to learn more about why his marketing team loves the Widen Media Collective.